Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Become a "sister congregation" with a church in a community where toxic waste or pollution threatens the health of the church members. Take their youth on an annual outdoor adventure.

Hold a "Creation Celebration" and invite your community, campus, or congregation to enjoy the outdoors with you.

Start a Bible study on what the Bible says about the environment. Consider inviting people outside of the church.

Set up a booth at a local environmental fair or Earth Day event, or plan one for your church.

Get your church to conduct an energy audit and implement improvements.

Adopt a local stream, park, or roadway for cleanup, monitoring, or restoration.

Identify an important environmental issue and visit or write letters to local, state, or national leaders about it.

Start a "Creation Club" for kids in your church.

Start a library of goods to share in your church. Some churches have experimented with toy libraries and tool libraries. Such ministries help us to live more simply and thereby reduce the pressures of materialism on creation.

Volunteer in a city, state or national park. With advance planning, rangers, park personnel, or foresters can put your church group to work.

Hold a public prayer event with emphasis on creation care, restoration, and stewardship.

Plant trees, shrubs, and perennials in places where shade and beauty are needed at your church.

Organize a church or community garden and encourage gardeners to donate some of the harvest to local homeless shelters and soup kitchens.

Combine Trips: Poll the family before heading out in the car to see how trips can be combined. Keep a list of all your errands in one place, and don't leave until you have several you can do in one trip.

Light the Way to a New Energy Future: Use compact fluorescent lamps instead of incandescent and save real money, while reducing pollution from power plants. Recycle your old lamps rather than throw them away.

Measure your Ecological Footprint: Size up the impact your activities and consumption habits have by taking this quiz.

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

My mother is dead. Three weeks and two days. Her funeral was very sweet – almost joyful. Sparsely attended, but so many of her friends were waiting on the other side. Three weeks and two days. And still it seems a bit unreal.

I am no longer walking under water, but the feeling has not returned to all my limbs. I am not yet fully present to joy or to sorrow. There have been no tears, but I did not expect any. I had done my grieving for many months as I watched her drift away from herself and me. The few flashes toward the last that reminded us all of who she was seemed fake – staged almost – as if she were saving up little bits here and there to present when the moment seemed right. I was so taken aback when these moments occurred that I almost did not know what to say.

Three weeks and two days. Her apartment is not empty yet. That begins in earnest over the coming weekend – furniture to her niece’s home, to the church and to our home. Dresser drawers of intimate things to go through and dispose of. Cabinets of kitchen items to decide to keep or to let go. The clothes were easy – someone else can surely use them. But the dishes my father bought for her before the married? Not so easy even as my cabinets are already overflowing.

Three weeks and two days. There are thank you notes to be written for memorials, for food, for kind thoughts and helpful deeds. I have not been able to start these yet even as I know that is rude of me. My pen is not yet capable of smiling though my heart is beginning to do so. It is almost amusing to hear myself tell others that I am “fine” in the same tight voice Mother used with me for months when I asked her how she was doing. Yes, I am my Mother’s daughter in so many ways.

Three weeks and two days. In the presence of the Lord, singing with the angels and the archangels, surrounded by friends and family, with my Father and all the beautiful cats they so loved while here! The roses and glads that Daddy grew so beautifully in his garden here, even more splendid in that Garden of unending light. The fulfillment of all her hopes, prayers, dreams and joys there in her eternal life. And it seems only an instant to her!

Three weeks and two days. If my lifetime here is as long as hers, I am two thirds of the way through – only one third left to get it right. To be my Mother’s daughter in all of the faithful ways that she tried to teach, but with, I hope, more fun, more smiles, more joy.

Written in one of Mother’s Bibles was the quote from someone famous that she had heard: When you get ready to die, be sure that is all you have left to do. I’ll try, Mother, I really will try. I promise.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Agricultural runoff into streams (and subsequently into oceans) is a major source of water pollution. Consider buying local organic food that is sustainably grown and does not put pressure on threatened species or habitats.

Do not pollute--recycle used oil--and do not litter (plastic bags and six-pack rings easily end up in oceans, where they suffocate and entangle fish, sea turtles, birds, and other creatures).

Reconsider taking a cruise. Cruise ships dump tons of waste directly into the open oceans, where there are no national laws prohibiting the practice.

Plant trees, and encourage tree plantings in your community, especially near streams. Nurture and care for the trees.

Pray and act for the conservation of the earth's oceans and have faith that God will answer your prayers and honor your faithfulness to his will.

Tell your elected officials that you want government policies that support clean waters and ocean health.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Pray for endangered creatures, including the ones in your own neighborhood and yard. Pray that God guides you and your family in your actions to care for other creatures as God intends.

Speak out on policies that affect endangered species.

Do not purchase anything made from endangered species or their parts (e.g., ivory, crocodile skin, corals)

Practice sufficiency and contentment in all your purchasing decisions. Buy only what you need, seek out products that do not contain hazardous materials, and buy products with minimal packaging. Recycle all materials--including computers--as much as possible, so they do not end up polluting lands and waters where creatures live.

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